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Mohawks, judge at odds over injunction

Ontario Provincial Police did the right thing by not arresting protesters who blocked train tracks this past weekend says one of the men involved, according to a native protest leader.

Dan Doreen, one of approximately two dozen protesters who blocked train tracks near Marysville on Saturday, said if OPP officers at the scene enforced an injunction issued by Ontario Superior Court Justice David Brown it would have only drawn out the peaceful protest.

“OPP did the right thing. If they came down and served us with an injunction we would have stayed 12 hours longer,” said Doreen. “No judge in Ontario or Canada is going to tell us where we can stand on our own land.”

The judge sees that inaction differently and has blasted OPP for not moving to dismantler the blockade, as ordered in the injunction.

Brown issued the order Saturday evening after CN Rail officials requested an injunction to stop the blockade that disrupted both freight and passenger trains.

The injunction, however, was not served by officers at the scene resulting in Brown criticizing the handling of the matter.

“We seem to be drifting into dangerous waters in the life of the public affairs of this province when courts cannot predict, with any practical degree of certainty, whether police agencies will assist in enforcing court injunctions against demonstrators who will not voluntarily cease unlawful activities, such as those carried on by the protesters in this case,” Brown wrote in court papers outlining why he issued the injunction.

Jim Feeny, spokesperson for CN Rail, said the company has reviewed Brown's decision and shares his concerns over the “serious impact illegal actions can cause Canadian businesses and over the uncertainties that arise from the impossibility to predict whether police agencies will enforce orders of the court.”

Saturday's blockade had CN officials working with OPP officers, Feeny said, and it is acknowledged that the injunction was in officers' hands that evening but protesters left before it was enforced.

Asked if CN was happy with that resolution, Feeny said, “We were happy that the First Nations people left of their own decision before midnight, but we wish they hadn't been there at all.”

Protesters have taken some criticism for blocking trains and disrupting travellers, but Doreen said he's not concerned with what people think of the approach.

“If that's the way change must come, then that's it. I don't really care about Canada's opinion poll. They haven't cared for us for about 100 years and as long as we're being good little Indians and have peaceful marches they're not going to care but if they get mad and upset then maybe the MPs will talk to (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper,” he said.

Any future blockades will be dealt with on an individual basis, Feeny said. Should there be more, he said, CN will work with police to determine the appropriate action.

It was the second such blockade in the local region and one of dozens that have taken place in Canada as part of the Idle No More movement.

Doreen said he's not sure if there will be further protests. The decision, he said, isn't his.

“It's up to Harper. I think we made the message clear with all these blockades,” he said.

To Brown, Doreen said it may be time to get a better understanding of Native affairs.

“CN put their track on our land, illegally, 100 years ago and threatened to shoot Indians if they tried to protest it. That was illegal too,” he said.